Trailer



No 8, 1938. A. STAHL 2,135,857

TRAILER Filed May 24, 1937 v 5 SheetsSheet 1 ALSMZYZ BY Q g- ATTORN EYNov. s, 1938. A. L. STAHL 2,135,857

TRAILER Filed May 24, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Nov. 8,1938. A. 1.. STAHL 2,135,857

TRAILER File d- May 24, 195'? s Sheets-Sheet s Ez'gxs INVENTOR PatentedNov. 8, 1938 2,135,857

UNITED STATES \PATENT OFFICE TRAILER Albert L. Stahl, Tullook, CaliL.assignmof onehalf to James L. Collins, Tin-lock, Calif.

Application May 24, 1937, Serial No. 144,448

12 Claims. (Cl. 214-85) This invention relates generally to the cononsprings 2 fixed on a transverse axle 3 having struction of a trailer fortowing behind a motor dual tired wheels 4 disposed on the axle spindles.vehicle and in particular relates to a two-wheeled A rigid draft tongue5 projects forwardly from general utility trailer especially designedfor use one end of the trailer bed and is suitably braced 5 by garageoperators or the like. as at 6. Solid sides 'I are rigidly mounted onand 5 The principal object of my invention is to proextend upward fromthe side edges of the flat vide a general utility trailer which may beselectrailer bed I and are beveled at each end, the tively employed forthe purpose of carrying an upper edges of the sides being materiallylonger automobile thereon for transportation from one than the loweredges which are substantially the place to another; or used for raisingan autolength of the bed. The depth of the sides 1 is 10 mobile forrepair from beneath or the repair of materially greater than the radiusof an average wheels; or used as a combination trailer and sizedautomobile wheel for the purpose which will derrick unit for raising oneend of a disabled hereinafter appear. The upper edge of each motorvehicle for towing the vehicle; or used as side I is reinforced by meansof a length of an open body trailer for general hauling. angle iron 8disposed with one face in a horizontal 16 A further object of myinvention is to provide position. A longitudinally extending section ofa winch unit removably mounted on the trailer rail 9 is mounted on thetop of the horizontal for use to draw an automobile onto the trailer,portion of each angle iron 8. or for use in connection with the derrickmech- Endgates Ill having side flanges II are remov- 20 anismselectively. ably connected at their upper ends to the outer 20 Afurther object of the invention is to proends of the reinforcing angleirons 8 by cross duce a simple and inexpensive device and yet rods l2,the lower edge of each gate resting on one which will be exceedinglyeifective for the the bed of the trailer as particularly shown. inpurpose for which it is designed. Fig. 6. When the endgates are thus inplace, These objects I accomplish by means of such the trailer may beused as a general utility open- 25 structure and relative arrangement ofparts as body carrying trailer. will fully appear by a perusal of thefollowing A winch indicated generally at I3, is mounted specificationand claims. on the tongue forwardly of the bed and with In the drawingssimilar characters of referits axis disposed at right angles to saidtongue. ence indicate correspondingparts in the several This winchcomprises a cable drum l4 supported 30 views: on a shaft l5, 2.releasable pawl and ratchet Figure 1 is a side elevation of the trailerin mechanism l6 being mounted in connection with loading position andillustrating the manner in the shaft to one side of the drum andnormally which an automobile is drawn onto the supportacting to preventunwinding of cable C thereing rails. from. A friction brake device I!including a 35 Figure 2 is a side elevation of the trailer as manualcontrol lever i8 is arranged in connecloaded and ready for transport.tion with one end of the shaft I 5. The other Figure 3 is a top plan ofthe trailer as used end of the shaft is squared as at l9 to removablyfor carrying automobiles in the manner shown receive a ratchet wrench 20provided with a 40 in Fig. 2. handle adapted to receive an extensionhandle 40 Figure 4 is a side elevation of the trailer (not shown).equipped with the removable derrick unit. When the device is used tocarry an auto- Flgure Eris an enlarged fragmentary'sectional mobilethereon, the endgates l0 are removed and elevation illustrating themounting of the derthe trailer tilted rearwardly until the bed enrickunit. gages the ground. Spaced skids 2| are placed 45 Figure 6 is anenlarged fragmentary sectional in position and extend from the ground tothe elevation of the trailer body illustrating particurails 9 and inalinement therewith. A translary the mounting of the endgates. verselyextending channel iron 22 is then laid on Figure 7 is a transversesection taken on line the skids 2| and front axle F of the automobile1-1 of Fig. 6. A engaged in the channel iron. Cable C from the 50 Figure8 is a side view of the ratchet wrench winch is then connected to thefront axle of the used in connection with the winch. automobile A andthe winch actuated by means Referring now more particularly to thecharof wrench 20 which has been placed on the acters of reference on thedrawings, the trailer squared portion IQ of shaft l5. This draws thecomprises a fiat frame supported bed i mounted front axle of theautomobile and the supporting 55 channel iron onto rails 9'. Anotherchannel iron is then placed under the rear axle of the automobile and onthe skids 2| and the winding of the cable on the winch drum continueduntil the automobile rests entirely on the rails and the trailer tipsforward to a balanced position as shown in Fig. 2, the trailer beingthen connected to a draft vehicle V. The automobile A is maintained onthe trailer in this position during transit by the cable C connected tothe front axle and a chain C extending from the rear axle to a hook H onthe rear of the bed i.

In the manner abovedescribed a wrecked automobile may be easily placedon the trailer and transported without difficulty. Also for repairs onthe road, an automobile may be raised onto the rails and as the sides 1are of relatively greater depth than the radius of the automobilewheels, a pit in effect is formed beneath the automobile. A mechanic canreadily enter this pit beneath the automobile and make the necessaryrepairs on the under portions thereof. Wheel repair or replacement islikewise facilitated as the wheels depend outwardly of the sides and arereadily accessible.

To remove the automobile from the trailer, the loading operation ismerely reversed, the ratchet mechanism l6 being released and thefriction brake device I! used to prevent too rapid descent or rearwardsliding movement of the automobile from the tilted trailer to theground.

When it is desired to use the trailer to tow a disabled automobile witheither the front or rear wheels of the automobile lifted clear of theroad, the demountable derrick unit shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is used inconjunction with the winch and its cable C. The derrick unit comprises apair of upwardly sloping rearwardly projecting beams 23 the lower endsof which are provided with pins 24 which removably project into openings in the bed adjacent but inwardly of the sides I. Intermediate theirends the beams are connected by bolts 25 to the sides 1 adjacent theirupper edges, said beams being bent toward horizontal adjacent theirouter ends and terminating beyond the plane of the rear of the trailerbed. Supporting arms 26 extend from removable connection with the sidesI to the beams adjacent their upper ends and a horizontal cross member21 is removably mounted between the upper ends of said beams. A sheave28 is supported from the cross member centrally between its ends, thesheave having the cable C from which I3 threaded therethrough. When thusassembled the demountable derrick unit is used in the same manner asfixed derrick units now used in connection with wrecking trucks and thelike. When not in use, the derrick unit is disassembled and carried onthe bed of the truck as are the endgates and skids.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A two wheel trailer including a wheel supported frame, and means tosupport an automospaced rails adapted to engage and support the axles ofthe automobile; the rails being disposed in a plane above the plane ofthe top of the trailer w'heels a distance greater than the distancebetween the bottom of the axles and the bottom of the wheels of thesupported automobile.

2. A two wheel trailer including a frame, wheels tiltably supporting theframe intermediate its ends, and a pair of longitudinally extendingtransversely spaced rails mounted above the frame and adapted to engagethe axles of an automobile supported thereon and disposed at a heightabove the frame sufilcient to enable the wheels of the supportedautomobile to clear the wheels of the trailer with movement of theautomobile onto the trailer and when the tread spacing of the automobileand trailer wheels is substantially the same, said rails extending asubstantial distance rearwardly beyond the plane of the rear end of theframe whereby when the frame is tilted rearwardly to a ground engagingposition, the rear ends of the rails will approach the ground.

3. A two wheel trailer including a frame supported bed, a forwardlyprojecting tongue mounted on the frame, rigid sides mounted on andupstanding from the side edges of the bed, and longitudinally disposedrails mounted on the upper edges of the sides and extending the fulllength thereof, said rails being adapted to engage the axles of anautomobile supported thereon; the rails being disposed in a plane abovethe plane of the top of the trailer wheels a distance greater than thedistance between the bottom of the axles and the bottom of the wheels ofthe supported automobile.

4. A two wheel trailer including a frame supported bed, a forwardlyprojecting tongue mounted on the frame, rigid sides mounted on andupstanding from the side edges of the bed, and

longitudinally disposed rails mounted on the upper edges of the sidesand extending the full length thereof; said rails being adapted toengage the axles of an automobile supported thereon, and the sides beingof a greater height than the radius of the wheels of an automobiledisposed on the rails whereby to provide a working space between theunder portion of the supported automobile and the trailer bed.

5. A wheeled trailer including a frame supported bed, a forwardlyprojecting tongue mounted on the frame, rigid sides mounted on andupstanding from the side edges of the bed, longitudinally disposed railsmounted on the upper edges of the sides and adapted to engage the axlesof an automobile supported thereon, endgates removably mounted betweenthe ends of the sides, and a cable winch mounted on the tongue with itsaxis extending transversely thereof, the cable from the winch drum beingadapted upon removal of the front endgate to extend between the sidesand between the rails lengthwise thereof.

6. A two wheel trailer including a wheel supported frame, means tosupport an automobile above the frame, said means comprising a pair oflongitudinally extending, transversely spaced rails adapted to engageand support the axles of the automobile, a cable winch mounted on theframe, the cable from the winch being adapted to extend lengthwise ofthe trailer between the rails, the winch including a releasable pawl andratchet mechanism normally acting to prevent unwinding of the cable, anda manually operable brake mechanism to control unwinding of the cablewhen the pawl and ratchet mechanism is released.

'7. A device as in claim including a derrick unit arranged for removableconnection with the sides and bed of the trailer atthe end thereofopposite the winch, said unit including a sheave through which the cablefrom the winch is adapted to be threaded.

8. A wheeled trailer including a frame supported bed, rigid sidesmounted on and upstanding from the bed at the sides thereof, railsmounted on and extendingalong the upper edges of the rails for the fulllength thereof and adapted to engage and support the axles of anautomobile, and endgates removably mounted between the ends of thesides.

9. A two wheel trailer including a frame supported bed tiltably mountedon the wheels, rigid sides mounted on and upstanding from the bed, railsmounted on and extending along the upper edges of the rails for the fulllength thereof and adapted toengage and support the axles of anautomobile; the sides being beveled at the ends and the upper edgesthereof being longer than the lower edges.

10. A two wheel trailer including a frame supported bed tiltably mountedon the wheels, rigid extending lengthwise of the bed at the sides of andabove the same and adapted to engage and support the axles of'anautomobile, and means rigidly mounting the rails in connection with thebed at a predetermined height above the same; the rails at one endprojecting a predetermined distance beyond the vertical plane of thecorresponding end 'of the bed.

11. A two wheel trailer comprising a frame, a pair of wheels supportingthe frame substantially central of its ends for tilting movement in'avertical plane, a tongue rigid with and projecting forwardly from theframe for detachable connec-' including a cable to pull the automobfleonto the rails when tilted, mounted on the rigid tongue.

ALBERT L, STAHL.

